Diagnostics of occupational asthma is based on positive results of bronchoprovocation tests (BPT) with occupational allergens. It is necessary to look for new methods which could make the diagnostics more precise. Twenty persons were tested with suspicion on occupational asthma. Except standard tests also leukotrienes (LT) B4, C4, D4, E 4, 8-isoprostane, malondialdehyde and 4-hydroxy-trans-2-nonenal in breath condensate, plasma and urine were analyzed. Examination was performed before BPT, after the non-specific bronchoprovocation test (nBPT) with methacholine and after specific bronchoprovocation tests with occupational allergens (sBPT). Specific bronchoprovocation tests were positive in 10 persons. In the group of patients with positive results of sBPT more frequently nBPT was positive (p = 0.002). Significant difference was found between groups with negative and positive results of sBPT in pH of breath condensate (p = 0.012). Within the group with positive sBPT significant decrease of 8-isoprostane was found in plasma after nBPT and sBPT (p = 0.006 a 0.049) compared to the basal value and significant increase of LTE4 in plasma after sBPT compared to the value after nBPT (p = 0.037).

A case report is presented of a 55-year-old patient diagnosed with a demyelinating disease of unclear etiology. The patient had Lyme borreliosis in 2004. Specific IgG antibodies against B. burgdorferi s. l. were detected in the serum. Intrathecal antibodies were not found in the cerebrospinal fluid, but the presence of B. garinii DNA was confirmed by PCR analysis. It can be hypothesized that the borrelial persistence in the body may have been one of the triggers of the autoimmune process resulting in demyelination of the central nervous system (CNS).

Altogether 118 Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated from urine of patients with urinary tract infection were tested by the disk diffusion method for susceptibility to ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, gentamicin, amikacin, colistin, meropenem, imipenem, piperacillin/tazobactam and ceftazidime. All strains were also screened for biofilm formation using a modified Christensen method. Eighty-eight, i.e., 74.6%, of the tested strains were resistant to ofloxacin, 86 (72.9%) to ciprofloxacin and 70 (59.3%) to gentamicin. Forty strains (33.9%) were resistant to imipenem, 42 strains (35.6%) to meropenem, 14 strains (11.9%) to amikacin, 2 strains (1.7%) to colistin, 35 strains (29.7%) to piperacillin/tazobactam and 41 strains (34.7%) to ceftazidime. Co-resistance to ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin and gentamicin was detected in 67 strains (56.8%) while 12 strains (10.2%) were resistant to most tested antibiotics, with the exception of amikacin and colistin. Biofilm formation was found in 41 strains (34.7%), more precisely in 23 of 46 inpatient strains and 18 of 72 outpatient strains. Eight (66.6%) of 12 polyresistant strains were biofilm producers.

Nosocomial infections associated with biofilm formation have been a serious problem in recent years. Up to 32% of them are urinary tract infections in patients with long-dwelling catheters. Catheters represent an ideal surface for bacterial adhesion, facilitating easier colonization of the urinary tract. Important pathogens causing these infections are bacteria of the genus Proteus that colonize catheters not only by biofilm formation but also using other virulence factors. Those were developed for survival in the host organism and are also used by bacteria to infect the host or fight the defence mechanisms. The study focused on the following selected virulence factors: swimming, swarming and twitching motility, swarming motility across various types of urinary catheters, biofilm formation in various media, formation of biofilm on catheters, haemolysin and urease production. A total of 102 strains isolated from urinary catheters and 50 strains isolated from stools were analyzed. In twitching motility, a difference between strains isolated from catheters and stools was statistically significant (p = 0.012). In swimming and swarming motility, the difference was not significant (p = 0.074 and p = 0.809, respectively). In motility across various catheter types, a statistically significant difference was found in strains isolated from both catheters and stools (p ≪ 0.01 in both cases). For biofilm formation analyses, BHI and BHI with 4% glucose were used. In BHI, biofilm was produced by all strains, with 65% of catheter strains and 88% of strains from stools being strong producers. Similarly, all strains produced biofilm in BHI with 4% glucose, with strong producers in 94% and 92% of strains isolated from catheters and stools, respectively. In formation of biofilm on catheters, there was a statistical difference between strains from catheters and stools (p = 0.00008). All strains isolated from both catheters and stools produced urease; no difference in urease production was statistically significant (p = 0.653). On agar with washed sheep erythrocytes, haemolysin production was not detected in any of the isolated strains. The quantitative method using horse erythrocytes revealed haemolysis production in three strains isolated from catheters.